


Emotional Support Goat

by raving_liberal



Series: Kids and Kids [4]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: A Staggering Amount Of Fake Bronte Characters, Family Fluff, First Crush, Gen, Goats, Happy Steve Bingo, M/M, Minor Family Drama, Movie Night, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 18:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16413401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal
Summary: Goats don't belong in the house, especially on movie night.





	Emotional Support Goat

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Steve Bingo Prompt: Movies
> 
> Beta-reading by the_ink_stained_knight

Movie night was, without a doubt, Steve’s favorite night of the week. He and Bucky began the tradition when Winnie was two, and they continued it through her childhood. Now that Winnie stood on the cusp of puberty, awkwardly long-limbed and at least somewhat annoyed with her fathers all the time, Steve appreciated the night even more. They could be neck deep in an argument about curfew, appropriate use of technology, or whether or not Winnie could schedule yet another sleepover at the palace that weekend, but all ill-will and petty squabbling got pushed aside for movie night. On movie night, everybody got along with each other. It was, in fact, one of the rules of movie night.

The ten rules of movie night went like this:

  1. Movie night begins on Tuesday at 7pm sharp. 
  2. Attendance at movie night is required. 
  3. Only one movie is allowed per movie night. 
  4. Movie night movies should be new (unless someone is sad or sick, or they’re celebrating a birthday or holiday, in which case, an old favorite is acceptable). 
  5. Bedtime doesn’t start until the movie is over. 
  6. That includes the credits, because we always watch the whole credits. 
  7. Movie choice for movie night rotates weekly through each member of the family. 
  8. Guests get to pick the movie; the rotating schedule resumes the following week. 
  9. Popcorn is required and must be popped on the stove. 
  10. Everybody gets along on movie night.



These rules had served them well for nearly a decade, through the frustrations of potty-training and tearful first days of school, during illnesses and heartbreak and the happiest of times. With Winnie’s twelfth birthday on the horizon, movie night provided an anchor for their little family unit, a mandatory evening of cuddling up together on the sofa to watch a cheesy romance or wacky heist. Steve still had a long list of classics to work through, which usually meant a movie from the 80s or 90s. Bucky loved Asian cinema, particularly Korean horror, though most of those weren’t appropriate for Winnie. Winnie’s preferences over the years had gradually morphed from animal-centric and animated films to puffed up period-pieces that all seemed to be about young women in Edwardian gowns standing on moors, staring wistfully into the distance. 

“How many damn Brontës were there?” Bucky whispered to Steve, as Winnie set up their movie for the night, an artsy version of _The Tenant of Wildfell Hall_ that had won a bunch of film festival awards when Winnie was still a baby. 

“Three,” Steve answered.

“Well, they do say bad things come in threes.”

“Hush,” Steve said. “Winnie loves the Brontës.”

“Oh, I know, I know,” Bucky said. “Everybody knows Winnie loves the Brontës. Folks in Bolivia and New Zealand know Winnie loves the Brontës.”

“ _Shhh!_ She’ll hear you,” Steve said, finger to his lips. 

Bucky lowered his voice even more. “Penguins at the South Pole and polar bears at the North Pole know Winnie loves the Brontës.”

“Buck,” Steve said. He elbowed Bucky in the side, getting a grumpy _hmph_ for his troubles. 

“It’s just… why do they own so many shawls?” Bucky asked.

“Because it’s _cold_ on the moors, Baba,” Winnie said with a sympathetic shudder as she dropped onto the couch between Bucky and Steve. Having spent the majority of her life in Wakanda, she complained about being too chilly if the temperature dropped below 75 degrees. “And shawls are their only luxury.”

“Of course. That makes sense,” Bucky said, somehow managing to not make it sound sarcastic. Winnie rolled her eyes anyway.

“I’ll go make the popcorn,” Steve said. He started to stand, but Winnie darted back to her feet.

“Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll do it!” She rushed into the kitchen before Steve could respond.

“Yeah, ‘cause that ain’t shady at all,” Bucky said.

“Not even a little,” Steve agreed. 

Popping sounds came from the kitchen, and mixed in with them, a soft bleat. Bucky and Steve exchanged knowing looks.

“Hey, Win?” Bucky called towards the kitchen.

“Yes, Baba?” Winnie replied, sounding a little too innocent.

“You don’t happen to have a goat in the kitchen with you, do you?” 

After a long moment of silence, Winnie said, “Of course not, Baba. Goats aren’t allowed in the kitchen.”

Bucky raised one eyebrow and looked at Steve, who had to force himself not to laugh aloud. 

“She takes after you, you know,” Bucky said.

“Me?” Steve countered. “I’m not the one who started collecting goats five minutes after getting out of cryo.”

“It was a couple of weeks, and you know it!”

“Olwethu told me you got Dog before you even left the palace,” Steve said.

“I bet she didn’t bother explaining that I thought they meant _a_ dog, not a goat _named_ Dog,” Bucky said. 

Steve knew this story, of course; he knew all the stories. The tale of Dog the goat was one of his favorites, though. Buck had always had a way with animals, and Dog acted like a therapy goat for him the first couple of years in Wakanda. When Dog died just last year, the turn-out for the funeral had been impressive. Steve had been to state funerals that were less formal and less mourned. Winnie’s first goat, James Junior, was actually one of Dog’s kids. She was also a nanny, not a billy.

“Winnie, sweetheart?” Steve said, when he realized that the popping had stopped, replaced by a crunching that sounded suspiciously like a goat eating popcorn. 

“I’m almost done, Dad.” 

“Win, honey,” Steve said, casually as can be, “is Bomvu in the kitchen with you right now?”

“Uh… no?”

Bucky snorted. “I believe that’s the most yes-sounding ‘no’ I’ve heard in my whole life, and I’m like a hundred-and-fifteen.”

Steve sighed. “Winnie. Bring the goat in here.”

“And the popcorn!” Bucky added.

“Buck! Don’t encourage her.”

“Like that kid needs encouragement. Her dad’s the notorious Steve Rogers, the Brooklyn Back-Alley Brawler.”

“Makes me sound like a boxer,” Steve muttered, as Winnie came into the room, Bomvu cradled in her arms and a bowl of popcorn balanced on his back. Steve sighed again. “Winnie. We’ve talked about this.”

“I don’t see why he can’t come in the house!” Winnie said, immediately on the attack. Bucky swiped the bowl of popcorn before it could tumble to the floor, then proceeded to sit there like a jerk, eating popcorn and watching Steve and Winnie.

“Because he’s a goat,” Steve said.

“Baba got to keep a goat in the house!” Winnie said. Her cheeks were already pink with righteous goat-related anger. 

“Those were different circumstances, and a different house, and that was before you were born,” Steve said calmly.

“Bomvu is my emotional support goat,” Winnie said. Bomvu apparently felt the moment had come for him to add his input, because he let out an ungodly bleat. Steve heard Bucky stifle a laugh and choke a little on his popcorn as a result.

Steve stood, ignoring Bucky’s whispered, “Uh-oh, here come the big guns!” and held his arms out for the goat. “Hand him over.”

“I won’t!” Winne said, squeezing Bomvu closer. 

“Yeah, you will,” Steve said. He made a ‘give him here’ gesture with his hands. Winnie glared at him.

“So you don’t want me to have emotional support?” she demanded.

“Emotional support for _what_ , exactly?” Steve asked. “You have two parents, live in a nice house, play with the princesses—”

“We don’t play, Dad! I’m not nine. We hang out!”

Steve shook his head. “Fine. You hang out with the princesses. You have a great school, good friends, a pen full of goats—”

“Which you won’t even let me bring in the house!” Winnie said.

“They make the couch smell goaty,” Steve said. “And they chew things.”

“You let Baba in the house when he smells goaty,” Winnie said.

“Hey!” Bucky said through a mouthful of popcorn. Crumbs flew everywhere, much to Bomvu’s excitement. He squirmed in Winnie’s grip, bleating pitifully and trying to get to the floor to eat Bucky’s half-chewed popcorn crumbs.

“Stop it, Bomvu!” Winnie yelled at the goat, who bleated back in her face. 

“Don’t yell at Bomvu,” Bucky said. “Winnie, come on. What’s this really about?”

“It’s not about anything! I just want my goat in the house!”

“Winnie,” Steve began, reaching for Bomvu again before he ended up planting a hoof in Winnie’s stomach, or she squeezed him so hard he peed. 

“Why are you trying to ruin my life?” Winnie shouted at Steve. 

Steve’s arms dropped to his sides as he sat on the sofa, stunned. “Win.”

Winnie immediately burst into tears, finally—thankfully—letting the goat leap out of her arms to the floor, where he began cleaning up Bucky’s popcorn. Steve took Winnie’s hand and pulled her down to the sofa between him and Bucky. 

“What’s this about, kiddo?” Bucky asked. “This isn’t about goats, is it.”

Winnie shook her head. “I wanted Ceba to like me, but he doesn’t. He likes Mandy Mabika, and she’s _mean_! She calls me ‘Princess Spray Tan’ and ‘Goat Girl’.” 

“Oh, we are having a conversation with Mandy Mabika’s parents,” Bucky said quietly. Steve looked at Bucky’s furrowed brow and set jaw, which meant he was about to head into Overprotective Dad Mode Category 4. Steve reached across the back of the couch and rested his hand on Bucky’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry to hear that about Ceba. He worked on the bioengineering project with you, right?” Steve asked. Winnie nodded, wiping her nose with the back of her head. “He seemed nice.”

“Not real bright though, huh?” Bucky added. 

“Can’t be if he likes Mandy Mabika more than you,” Steve agreed. “And I’m sorry she’s mean. Sometimes people are mean because they’re insecure.”

“Or sometimes they’re mean ‘cause they weren’t raised with any manners,” Bucky muttered.

“I’m sure the Mabikas are a very nice family,” Steve said.

“Aw, Win, is that why we’ve been watching all these sighing-out-on-the-moors movies?” Bucky asked. “Because you like this boy?”

Winnie sniffled. “They’re so romantic. Real boys aren’t romantic.”

“It’s true. Your Dad punched me in the face about twenty times when we were kids,” Bucky said.

“Only because your Baba started it,” Steve said.

“See? Real boys are _dumb_!” Winnie said. 

Bucky laughed. “Better to learn that now, before you get your expectations too high.”

“Buck,” Steve chided. “Winnie, we want you to keep your expectations high. Don’t settle for somebody dumb.”

“Yeah, make better choices than your Baba!” Bucky said.

Winnie giggled and reached down to idly pet Bomvu, who, having polished off the popcorn, had moved on to chewing on the rug. “Can we stop breaking rule number ten now?” she asked. 

Steve nodded. “We’re clearly in violation of that rule and must immediately course correct.”

“Wait. Does this mean we don’t have to watch Lady Bemmingsbottom pining for the fjords?” Bucky asked. “Can we watch _Battle Bingo 7_ instead?”

“Baba, nobody wants that,” Winnie said.

Before Bucky could protest, Steve patted his shoulder again. “She’s not wrong, Buck. I couldn’t even make it through _Battle Bingo 2_ , remember?”

“Fine,” Bucky said, sighing dramatically. “We’ll watch Count Hamsley lock his mentally ill sister away in the attic until they get ghosts that teach them the true value of a woman’s freedom.”

“I love you, Baba,” Winnie said.

“And get your goat,” Bucky said. “He ate all my popcorn.”

“But Baba…”

“The goat can stay for the movie this _one_ time,” Steve said, picking up the remote. “Special one-night-only exception.”

“Because he’s my emotional support goat?” Winnie asked.

“Yes, because he’s your emotional support goat,” Steve said.

“You’re worse than she is!” Bucky said. Steve grinned back at him over Winnie’s shoulders and pressed play.


End file.
